Developer David Barnard tweeted today that Apple is requiring that he remove direct links from his app Launch Center Pro because the app uses "undocumented APIs" to launch built-in Apple apps.

According to Barnard's tweets:

Apple called to let me know that we are using “undocumented APIs” in @launchcenterpro and that we need to remove certain Apple app URLs. [1]

The URLs will still work, but we have to remove Calendar, FaceTime, FaceTime Audio, GameCenter, Music, Passbook, Videos, Reminders, and iTMS. [2]

To be clear, these URLs will work just fine unless Apple actually removes them from their respective apps. [3]

All of those URLs have one thing in common, they are apps that ship with iOS. Apple apps in the App Store seem to still be fair game. [4]

And to be fair, those URLs *are* technically undocumented. I’m not even sure how they were discovered by people who shared them with us. [5]

Launch Center Pro is a speed dial-esque alternative launcher that uses hidden URLs to quickly open apps. Because the URLs to Apple's built-in apps are undocumented (with the exception of FaceTime), app developers are forbidden from using them on the App Store.

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